Poured into the tulip with a dirty kriek reddish brown color. Mild white head.
The nose was pretty odd. I think I was expecting something kriek-ish, but this is somewhere between that and a sour. Cherries, funk, medicinal, bandaid. The nose was surprisingly intriguing.
What was promising to be a somewhat sweet taste turned into tart cherry and the continued medicinal bite. While tart, the ale never quite reached into sour at all.
Mouth was full of carb...almost champagne like with a dry light body.
All around a unique experience. This one defied what I thought it would be and left me with a new take on what you can do with a style. Would be very interested in getting another bottle and aging it for 5-10 as the label suggests the ale is "eager to be aged for years and years."

I've been having a lot of bad luck with the craft Italians. This one was another gusher. Had a big light brown head and no lace. Color is a cloudy brown with reddish highlights. Aroma is fairly simple brett malt cherries yeast. Flavors the same plus some funk. Not as good as I'd expected. Body is ok carbonation is obviously over the top. Finish is like flavor. Not a session.

750 ml bottle (that I've cellared at least a year) that gushed fairly violently into my sink, pouring very loud, crackling foam which luckily had almost zero retention, making it easy enough to keep ahead of the overflow after the initial pressure was released. Poured into my large Gulden Draak tulip, Scires is a dark, dull murky purplish brown with a razor thin off-white collar fed by the constant stream of bubbles rise from the etching in the tulip, continuing to produce a steady fizz noise long after the first pour. The noise is by far the most impressive part of this beer, the loudest I've ever heard.

Smell is vinous, cherry wine.

Taste is the same. There's some brett mustiness but this is not a sour beer, save for a little acidity from the cherries. A bit tannic as well, not sure if this saw any oak, but I wouldn't be surprised. A dull, dirty fruit beer that I should have drunk as fresh as possible.

Mouthfeel is dry, tannic, a little watery, lighter bodied.

Drinkability is okay, it's a pretty smooth, in offensive fruit beer (if you enjoy brett, which I do). But the cherry character is fairly low, and overall, there's not a ton of complexity. Probably not the brewer's intention to age it like I have though so I guess I can't knock it too much. Still, overall I'm not too impressed.

Poured from 750 ml bottle into Unibroue tulip. The bottle was a gusher, as expected. Head is lingering and lovely. Smell is of some funky wild yeast (Brett?) with a sweet cherry in the background. Really tried hard to like the taste (like a funky cherry lambic), but having difficulty. I know I'm open to liking wild yeast (love most Allagash) but this one is somewhat unpleasant. The bottle states that this is a unique style and I believe that but I just can't get behind this. Glad I had some friends to share the bottle with, there is no way I could finish this one myself. They are still my friends after sharing but they didn't enjoy it either. Not horrible, but not enjoyable to drink. Life is too short and there are too many beers to drink this one again.

750 ml bottle brought to the SeaO'Floydster tasting by Brad, thanks for stopping by and bringing this Italian treat, consumed 3/28/09, reviewed from notes, poured into my Stone sampling glass

A-Deep amber color with some pink highlights, 1/2 inch fizzy pinkish head that was bubbly and went away pretty quickly, no lacing
S-Black cherries, lactose, acetone, grapes, oranges, funkiness, oak, and sweetness mostly coming from fruit
T-Starts off with a big cherry flavor, some weak malt in the middle, finish is a little sour and dry as well, caramel and orange peel come out in the last few sips, lots of dry oak towards the end and the cherries are still in full force as well
M-Sour, lactic, sweet, and fruity mouthfeel, medium bodied, way too much carbonation, taste does not last long
D-Could drink a few glasses of this, booze are hidden well, can be refreshing because of its high level of carbonation, not filling or anything

I never bought this one because of its twenty dollar plus price tag but I was always interested in it, for somebody who enjoys beers with lactic acid, this is a good one to try, might drink again but would not pay that kind of money for it, worth trying

Pours cloudy golden brown with no head. Nose of sour cherries. Taste is oak, dark fruits, cherries, with a strong vineous notes. Sour oak lasting finish. Very high carbonation with a medium mouthfeel. Overall impression is that the beer lacks some depth, especially on the nose, but has an interesting play between the oak and sour cherries.

GUSHER ALERT. Wish I'd read previous reviews on this myself: half the bottle was lost to my floor... and at $20+ a bottle, I wasn't so thrilled.

Oxidized brown-red color (quite attractive, really), tight carbonation bubbles in abundance, and smells of cherries, wild yeast, and burnt rubber. Fun to sniff. The taste was a little less exciting, dominated by TONS of cherries, some sweet, some tart. After mopping up my floor which was quite sticky from the beer, I was surprised that the beer itself wasn't cloyingly sweet; the tartness balanced residual sugars quite nicely. Wasn't getting much other than cherries, however, so grew bored of the beer after a glass. Fortunately, the smell kept things interesting enough to plow through what was left of the bottle after spillage.

Had to dock appearance points for the packaging snafu. Not fair, I know--but this is a professional beer, and packaging (not marketing, mind you) is important. Especially at this price point.

Sampled from a pretty 750 mL bottle. The beer gushed out as soon as I opened it and the foam made the loudest fizzing noise I've heard yet from a beer. It sounded like those pop rocks candies fizzing in the beer. Pours a deep red with quite a lot of carbonation and a quickly fading head. Aroma of sweet cherries, sweettart candies, and a slight funkiness. Flavor of cherries, wood, and sweet candies. The flavor gets a little muddled as you go and is not as powerful as the aroma suggests. Pretty decent though. I would also like a little less carbonation!
Aroma: 8/10
Appearance: 4/5
Flavor: 7/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 14/20
3.7/5

***Gusher alert. If you have one of these, do your self a favor and open over a sink***

Poured a deep and muddy pinkish/reddis/brownish color with an averaged sized head. Aromas of yeast, cherries, and caramel. Tastes of cherries and a little funky. Started out somewhat sweet and finished in a nice light tartness.

From a 75 cl bottle, picked up from the brewery. This beer was a little bit of a let-down. In general, I've been quite impressed with this brew-pubs products. This one was just somewhat off-the mark. It pours a murky red-tinged brown color with an initially fizzy head that quickly settles down. The smell is quite good. There's, of course, lots of cherry, but also an appealing sourness and funk. It's really an appealing, sour-beer smell, like a decent lambic. The taste, though is where I get let down. The tartness is half-hearted, and the yeasty wildness doesn't come out in the flavor. Fruit is present in the taste, for sure, but not in a balanced and interesting way. The beer could have done for a lot more pizazz in the flavor and sourness departments. Still, I have to give kudos to the brewpub for putting out what is, nonetheless, a vibrant, drinkable, and interesting beer. I just wish that it went a little further and was a little better.

Appears a hazy reddish brown with a small, off-white head that fades into a mild collar. No lacing is left around the glass.
Smell is of cherries, light grain, funky earth, hay, pepper, and ginger.
Taste is of the mentioned aromas with tart cherries and spices and wood notes.
Mouthfeel is medium bodied, lightly spiced, with some gentle tartness that hits the pucker button before the swallow.

Bottle, as pictured here, pours a murky ruby brown body with a small pinkish hued head. Minimal retention and a few wisps of lace. The bottle gushes over after sitting on the counter a few seconds. Aroma is lambic like. Acidic, musty, sour, and funky. Sour cherry notes are up front. Body is medium, with an active carbonation that adds a fizzy intensity. Taste is tart cherries and musty wood. Brett adds a wet gravel note and some barnyard. Dryness is present all the way through. Somewhat acidic and tannic with very little malt sweetness. Nicely done but overpriced compared to most Belgian examples of the style.

7.5% so likely the most recent batch
This was definitely a well carbonated beer as it almost immediately foamed up and spilled beer on the counter before I could start pouring and got it over the sink. The head is very fizzy without a lot of structure to it and despite the ample carbonation disappears after a minute or two. The head, when there, was a deeply stained, dark tan colored head that had dark patches to it where sediment had discolored it. The beer is extremely hazy and is a murky, dark amber color. Flavors of cherries are found up front, but there is lots of other stuff going on here. Soft medicinal notes, move to some sweaty-goat like notes, some cured yet slightly moldy leather aromatics and then the finish has a note that is distinctly reminiscent of the fake fruity note found in watermelon jolly rancher candy. This definitely has developed some Brettanomyces character and this and the jolly rancher note become the most noticeable part of the aroma.

Quite dry with a light sweetness to it, this beer has a lightish body, but does have a touch of density to it that keeps it from being thin. Grassy, almost plant stem flavors are found up front and this finishes with some medicinal phenolic notes that at times taste a bit like curing plastic and then olive brine. The light tartness accentuates a touch of earthy, cherry skin flavors, a touch of cherry fruitiness in the finish, a light tamarind note. This definitely has a bit of a vegetal flavor to it and it has a butyric acid induced, earthy, musky, sweaty, old, damp blanket / leather flavor to it as well.

Definitely complex, but doesn't really work. More fruit flavor would go a long way towards balancing the funky notes here; maybe even a touch of sweetness would help, but I like that this is on the dry side. Based on potential, I will definitely give this another try, especially since I think that there is probably quite a bit of variability between batches.

750 ml bottle from Hi Time Wine in Costa Mesa, CA in May 2008; price not recorded but probably in the high teens. Available in the back at my trip to the store, not on the shelf.

Pours a murky reddish brown with minimal head a la Flemish sour ale. I poured a small taste into my glass and set the bottle down on the counter, only to have several ounces of the beer escape out of the bottle and down the side in very short order. It didn't look terribly carbonated at firts pour, but it built up quickly. A steady stream on small bubbles continues, pleasant but not overwhelming.

Aroma is sour cherries and woody goodness. At first smell (and taste) it smelled more kriek-like, harsh and sour and organic. But after it sat a few minutes and aerated, it became more mellow (but still sour) and the woody notes overtook the barnyard funkiness. Flavor became better and better as it settled. My main dislike of this is there seems to be a "hot" astringency at the end of the swallow. Dry with great fruitiness.

Of course, the comparisons with the Belgian versions of this style are inevitable; I favor the "old originals", not partly beacuse they are priced much better than this very expensive bottle.

At first swallow I didn't think I was going to like this, but it really grew on me. I was actually sad when the glass emptied.

I drank this at an "Art of Refermentation" beer tasting hosted by Garrett Oliver at the National Geographic.

These are my tasting notes:

Garrett Oliver was touting Italy as an up and comer in the craft beer world. Given the countries great food and wine I'd love to see something other than a light lager when ordering Una Birra ala Spinna...

A gusher bottle. Opened gradually by just prying the cap off a crack and letting it fizz and bubble for a while. Even so, it still flowed out of the bottle on its own accord. Sour it definitely is, sweet it isnt. Not quite sure what this beer is shooting for. If you want a sour ale, or flemish red, Rodenbach is a better value. If you want a kriek, the more established players will probably serve you better. Enjoyable? Yes. Would I buy again? Maybe.

A weak attempt at a Flemish sour. Not even as hearty as regular rodenbach. The beer has good light redish color and the lactic sourness is present but it is thin and watery. Even so, if I was in Italy I would drink it as it is nice to see a beer from Italy other than Peroni or Morretti. No hop aroma or other funky lambic type aromas, just a lactic beer.

I'm glad I read the earlier review, otherwise I wouldn't have opened this in the sink - it went all over the place anyway, and I lost a decent amount. Pours a dark red/magenta topped by a persistent quarter inch of pink tight head.

Aroma:

Nicely tart and sour with aromas of fresh cherries, oak, vanilla and a whiff of smoke.

Taste/Mouthfeel:

Slightly metallic and medicinal to lead things off, but it opens up and sweetens into a nice blend with oak dominating alongside a sadistically tart cherry sensation. Very similar to a Flanders red, but with more wood apparent, this makes the mouth pucker throughout with its sourness. Finish is rather dry, yet accompanied by loads of fruit flavor. Alcohol is nicely masked, this is an easy to drink enjoyable, though ridiculously expensive beer.

This is described as an old amber ale blended with a new amber ale blended with dark cherries. Upon opening, it foams out the top of the bottle for quite some time. Poured into a glass, it is a murky red color with a tall head and great retention. Aroma has a lot of cherry character with some tartness and hints of malty sweetness. Smells very nice. The flavor is a bit of a disappointment, but not too much. The cherries come through as does the hint of sour and sweet malt, but the cherry flavor has a sharpness to it that bites a little. As it warms, the bite drifts off and the cherry flavor comes through better. The body is surprisingly moderate and the drinkability is pretty good.